One of the most persistent misconceptions about single-payer health care is that it will cost too much. When my husband was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 30 in 2013, we had no health insurance, a young son and made about $35,000 a year. It was only through the extraordinary generosity of family, friends and even strangers were we able to pay the tens of thousands of dollars that it cost to treat him, not including the lost wages from months of being unable to work or the regular CAT scans, blood work and doctors visits he has needed for the last several years to make sure he stays cancer-free. Even after we were finally able to get insurance under the Affordable Care Act, his tests and visits have not always been covered.

How many GoFundMe pages for medical treatment have you shared on Facebook or seen pop up in your feed? Each month, I see a new flier posted around town advertising a fundraising dinner for someone’s medical expenses ...